Committee on Young Engineers / Future Leaders (YE/FL)

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Young Engineers / Future Leaders (YE/FL) is a Standing Committee of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, which gathers together young engineers, students, and council members as official members from national engineering associations representing their country.

The YEFL STC was established to give a global voice to young engineers, and allow for input from a previously unrepresented segment of the engineering population who are the drivers of innovation, creativity and technology development. Our critical mission remains to provide input from a young engineer’s perspective and to create a global network and voice for Young Engineers. This mission is aligned with and enables the realization of the WFEO Strategic Objective to ‘Be at the forefront of international efforts in making the Engineering profession contribute to scientifically and technologically achievable goals and innovation’.

Young engineers are expected to be jointly responsible for delivering the sustainable development goals and policies, and to provide inputs to these goals and policies early, especially through the development stages. This approach enables collective ownership and the acculturation of the young engineers group towards realising the intent of these policies and goals. The YEFL STC connects with other WFEO STCs and external organisations to ensure the young engineer’s voice is prominently featured in all such necessary discussions, policies and goals development.

The YEFL STC activities and roadmap are closely knitted with the national and regional organizations’ activities and plans. From 2015 to 2019, this partnership process and collective effort with the regional and national organizations have enabled the delivery of the International Strategic Planning Forums & Stakeholder Collaboration for Global Integration of Youth in Industry. The first sessions were held in Kuwait (Middle East) and Japan (Asia Pacific) in 2015, followed by Peru (South America) in 2016, with Rome (Europe), and Africa (Nigeria and/or South Africa) planned for 2017.

The outcomes from these events have helped to sharpen the STC objectives and to improve clarity on the issues we plan to confront. These issues are evolving and require a continuous update of the STC strategy to tactfully tackle them: aside finding relevance in own countries and regions, young engineers are now faced with unprecedented global culture changes requiring the need to catch-up with global technology growth, while also developing innovative approaches to adapt to and lead change in own regions.

A white paper has been presented to the WFEO on the outcomes of the ongoing stakeholders’ engagement sessions. A position paper is being prepared around the region-specific observations and the common, repeating themes from the forums held across the globe and will be presented at the 50th Anniversary celebration in 2018 for discussion, and the updated paper incorporating all stakeholders’ comments at the WFEO General Assembly in 2019. This STC does not aim to resolve issues faced by young engineers across the globe; rather, we aim to provide the support and networks needed to continue to tackle these issues head-on, to form strong, resilient young leaders, and to make progress in growing the collective representation of young engineers in industry, and professional organizations at all levels.

Humanitarian Engineering remains a major thematic area for the STC, as a medium for sharing opportunities for growth, collaboration and networking across multicultural divides, with the goal of bridging the opportunity gap between young engineers in developed and developing countries, and fostering inclusiveness in diversity. We also aim to motivate and inspire young engineers to take on upcoming leadership positions within and outside of WFEO, and in their regional and local organizations.

The WFEO and YEFL STC provides young engineers and members opportunities to have the education, experience, and exposure to transition into leadership positions within the WFEO and in other national and multinational organisations and corporations. Working closely with business leaders, policy makers, NGOs and national governments enhances the opportunity for first-hand coaching and mentorship, whilst also creating the global, regional and national connections required to make lasting impact in issues concerning young engineers’ development.

Who We Are

The World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) Executive Board Meeting in Paris, France, (March 16-17, 2009), culminated in the acceptance of the Committee for Capacity Building (CCB) proposal to establish a Young Engineers/ Future Leaders (YE/FL) Task Group.

The YE/FL was to be constituted by young engineers of the WFEO member countries and its council members are to be official delegates by national engineering associations of WFEO countries. CCB’s goal is the involvement of young engineers in the world’s leading activities to gain and share knowledge and experience, and to get the YE/FL abreast of global policies, which prepares them to take on future leadership roles.

At the World Engineers Congress (WEC) in Kuwait, 2009 (“Alternative Energy Application Option or necessity?”), the CCB encouraged the WFEO member countries to organise their young engineers for participation at the first YEFL council meeting at the WEC 2010 held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Aligning with the CCB YEFL vision, the Executive Committees of the engineering organizations of respective national member countries nominated and sponsored young engineers to the first YE/FL task group and council meetings in Argentina, September 2010.

Young Engineers / Future Leaders (YE/FL) is a now standing technical committee of the WFEO gathering young engineers, students and council members as official members from the engineering associations of national member countries.